Hamas official says German mediator failed in Shalit negotiations

The official says Gerhard Conrad will not return to negotiations after he failed to fulfill his role in advancing the talks, preferring to side with Netanyahu than convince him of details of the deal already agreed upon during Olmert's time as prime minister.

The deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau said in a report Saturday that German mediator Gerhard Conrad completely failed to advance negotiations regarding the release of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Deputy Chairman Moussa Abu Marzouk said that Conrad will not return to negotiations, following his failed efforts, the London-based Al-Hayat Arabic-language newspaper reported.

Abu Marzouk said that Conrad did not succeed in changing the stance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but sided with his position instead.

The Hamas official told Al-Hayat that Conrad did not make enough of an effort to incorporate understandings that had already been agreed upon during Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's time as prime minister. He added that in the final stages of the deal's implementation, Conrad changed his mind regarding details that had been agreed upon during the Olmert government.

Abu Marzouk said that Hamas would not allow the negotiations to revert to square one.

In January, Al-Hayat reported that a delegation of Hamas strongmen reportedly discussed the latest proposal for a prisoner exchange deal with organization political chiefs in Damascus.

Earlier that month, the newspaper reported that Conrad concluded a two-day visit to the Gaza Strip where he held talks with senior Hamas leaders.

A top Hamas official told the daily at the time that Conrad had reportedly presented a series of new ideas to Hamas in a renewed effort to reach a deal with Israel over a prisoner swap that would see Shalit freed after more than four years in Palestinian captivity.

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Nitenyahu is simply stalling for an opportunity which may or may not
come, i always saw a special relation between hamas and israel, they
both need each other to carry out their agendas, israel is superior when
it comes to weapons, and weakest when dealing with peace, hamas is
stronger when they show everyone they're the good guys since israel
attacks them and they still deliver ( gaza pull-out and a more than
possible prisoner swap in the next 6 months to weaken the PA that failed
to release prisoners, stop settlements or even get a U.S support on the
settlement issue)

Netanyahu cited two objections to past Hamas demands: 1. The most
dangerous released terrorists (45 out of 450) will not be allowed to
return to the West Bank but should go to Gaza or abroad, and 2.
Arch-murderers will not be released. The first objection is of a
security nature, but the security professionals don't see the great
danger, so it seems like an excuse. The second objection also appears to
be phony. Who are those "arch-murderers"? It appears that at
least some, if not all, are actually senior POLITICAL leaders, such as
Barghouti (Fatah) and Natshe (a founder of Hamas). These people
themselves did not kill anybody with their own hands, at most they
enabled others, so I wouldn't call them "arch-murderers"; it
is misleading. (Barghouti was convicted for enabling the murder of 5
Israelis. This is no arch-murderer.) Let us remember that Netanyahu
himself released Sheikh Yassin when Mossad agents were caught in Jordan.
Yassin was no arch-murderer in the usual sense and in fact, some of the
political leaders Israel holds are even MODERATE. Barghouti and Natshe
developed the "prisoners' document" (2006) which enables a
reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, calling for Hamas and other
organizations to join the PLO and for the Palestinians to accept a state
in the 1967 borders. Perhaps this is what Netanyahu wants to prevent. He
needs enemies, not moderate leaders, in order to delay and reject peace
possibilities which would force giving up a part of Eretz Yisrael. Sorry
Shalit family, you will probably have to wait until the next Israeli
election to see your son.

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